13. Implications and applications

I can hardly believe it but week 13 is finally here! We have completed the first phase of Fabricademy and have learnt SO MUCH in the process. I am so excited to see all our new knowledge and experience come together in our final projects.

By the time I sat down to start ideation and research for my project proposal, I was surprised by how much was already fleshed out in my mind. Somehow a few of my interests during the assignment weeks kept coming up again and again and it became clear that these were what I really wanted to explore in my project.

Namely, biomimetic movement, electronics and digital fabrication. After some mind mapping and brainstorming, I came to my idea. I will share it with you below as I did in my presentation to the Fabricademy participants and mentors.

Introducing my Project "Keeping Time."

What is the Concept?

I am interested in the timings, rhythms and cycles of more than human worlds and how our connection to them affects the way we respond to climate change.

I have been thinking a lot about the temporal lag we have surrounding the climate crisis- the game of catch up between the pace the physical world is changing and the pace that we can perceive and react to that change.

With urbanisation and technology distancing us from nature’s timings, the dominance of our human centred rhythms of life, can we really perceive the pace of ecological threat that other life forms are facing? How do the blind spots of our anthropocentric perceptions of time effect the needs we prioritising and the way we shape solutions?

For my project, I wanted to design an interaction that invites people to engage with more than human temporalities and explores what it might mean to notice the paces, rhythms and cycles of other beings and the ways we are entangled with them.

What is the Outcome?

To do this, I want to make 3 kinetic and interactive sculptures to be exhibited here at Waag

The form and movement of each sculpture is based on a cycle found in nature.

The first is from the land exploring the blooming and seeding cycles of plant communities.

The second is from the sky, inspired by the migratory cycle of birds.

The third is from the sea, drawing inspiration from the cycles of growth in Whalefall ecosystems.

In order to encourage connection with the sculptures, I have named each one after a female figure from mythology that relate to these cycles: Daphne, Philomel and Amphitrite.

All three characters metamorphose from human to more than human form in their stories and therefore play a conduit role in the installation.

The most important part of these Sculptures is the interaction I want to design.

The sculptures movement will be biomimetic, borrowing from the mechanics and geometry of motion in nature. The motion is important here to convey my ideas about time- as speed and rhythm are how time can be felt in an embodied way.

The sculptures will be designed with sensors, so that the proximity of the spectator will trigger a change in its movements.

For instance, the speed and rhythm of Philomel’s wingbeat, the opening and closing of Daphne’s flowers and the unfurling of Amphitrite’s anemones will be affected by the viewers proximity.

This aim to make tangible the disruption that is occurring along timescales that are difficult to perceive and allow us to directly experience a connection to them.

How is this linked to Fabricademy and what methods and processes I will use to do it?

• First, to create the biomimetic movement, I will build on Soft Robotics week focusing on how the pleating and gathering of textiles can turn simple actuations in to more complex, organic motions.

• From our explorations in Open Source Hardware I will use 3D printing to design motor adapters, pulleys and gears systems inspired by mechanical toys and automata.

• Using skills developed over Electronics weeks I will create the proximity sensors system and power motion.

• Finally, I will use parametric design and laser cutting to create geometries found in nature.

Timeline?

My basic timeline to achieve this is in 3 phases:

• Researching and Prototyping motion.
• Building the electronics and code,
• Refining the aesthetics and install.

Research and Inspiration?

Finally, I wanted to give you an insight into the context this project has been born from:

First are works that framed my ideas on visualising more than human timescales. For instance, Julian Oliver’s Extinction Gong which is mechanised to beat to the rhythm of species extinction.

Other inspiration is from Katie Patterson and the writing of Peter Godfrey Smith.

Secondly, practices of speculative fictioning which encourage us to imagine alternative worlds, and to ask questions about how we treat inhabitants of this one. I am particularly influence by the work on the right by Marguerite Humeau which imagines a world where Elephants are the single species to develop language on earth.

Other inspiration is from Pakui Hardware and 2016 film by Denis Villeneuve, Arrivals.

Finally, I have various artists who use Biomimetic motion. I am inspired by Studio Drift whom use the embodied and emotional resonance of movement to explore our connection with nature.

Other inspiration is from Casey Curran, Theo Jansen and Etiene Jules Marey, Gull in Flight (1885).

Born from this context, my project is about connecting to the diverse timings of the natural world and how these are being disrupted by climate change.

It’s not about speeding up or slowing down, but about keeping in time with the wingbeats of swifts or the opening of blossom or the descent to the sea floor.

RESOURCES AND READINGS?

Here I will leave a reading list of articles and books that have shaped my thinking on this project:

☈ FEEDBACK ☈

Commenter	Comment
Oscar	I see how you are using inspiration from your previous work in the Fabricademy. Let the material explorations explore and also shape your concepts. Also, you have created three interactive pieces. Will they interact with each other?
Anastasia	incredible presentation! i love it! it would be nice to explore also the concept of time in the materials you use for your installations/sculptures and to try to implement sustainable materials . have a look here https://www.interspecies.io/
Claudia	Lovely and powerful storytelling, the idea of developing interactive sculptures to investigate movement and biomimetic principles in relation to mythological art is great and definitely original! Maybe biomaterials - metamaterials can be added to the exploration https://www.facebook.com/moltenimmersiveart/videos/casey-curran/322729492528673/
Nuria	Isobel, I love how you've presented your project, it's truly sensual. It seems like you have everything well under control, and I look forward to seeing your results! It reminded me of this project from Amanda Jarvis: https://class.textile-academy.org/2022/amanda-jarvis/projects/final-project/
Rico	I often wonder how insects perceive time...given their short (1 week?) lifespan. Similarly, I wonder how if a hummingbird see humans moving in slow motion. I hope your final project will allow us to really see our world from different temporal perspectives! VERY VERY intriguing!
Paula	Bio-inspired sculptures that move! I love it. I can envision a small material library for soft robotics, showcasing all the trials and experiments. This will require a lot of experimentation, with very colorful movements.